The KC Royals dropped their series finale to St. Louis, 6-1. The Royals still have the best record in baseball as they head out on the road for six games beginning in NY on Monday (1:05pm ET on ESPN).

It started out ugly for Yordano Ventura, as he walked Cardinals leadoff hitter Kolten Wong on four pitches. He then walked Matt Carpenter. Jhonny Peralta then delivered an RBI single on a check swing. Matt Adams doubled in a run on the very next pitch.

Royals starter Yordano Ventura during his spring training start on St. Patrick’s Day 2014 (Jen Nevius).

Ventura escaped further damage when Peralta ventured too far down the third base line on a ball in the dirt (Salvador Perez threw him out). Yadier Molina then grounded out before Randal Grichuk popped up. However, he needed 30 pitches to get out of the 1st inning.

Ventura settled down from there.

He struck out five over the next four innings and did not allow a base runner. Until the sixth.

Wong led off the inning with a single and Carpenter drove him in with a home run.

The Royals best chance against Cardinals starter Michael Wacha (who improved to 7-0 and lowered his ERA under 2.00) came in the bottom of the sixth. They loaded the bases with two outs, but Alex Gordon flied out to right field to end it.

They had six hits, all singles, from six different players. Their lone run scored on a Perez single after Cardinals centerfielder Peter Bourjos missed a Gordon fly ball in the fifth.

*Mike Moustakas was back in the lineup a day after coming out of the game after taking a ground ball to the throat. He went 1-for-4.

*Luke Hochevar did not look good in the 8th inning. He allowed two runs on four hits. However, the two-run single was a bloop that shortstop Alcides Escobar almost made a great diving catch with his bare hand.

*Perez left the game in the ninth, as he was replaced on defense by Drew Butera. Apparently he has been dealing with a groin (according to manager Ned Yost) or hamstring (according to Perez) injury for some time. Maybe Yost should give him some days off????

*Right fielder Alex Rios is headed to Triple-A Omaha to began a rehab assignment. The Storm Chasers play an early afternoon Memorial Day game.

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About Jen Nevius

I first became a KC Royals fan way back in 1995 when I attended my first Wilmington Blue Rocks game. I fell in love with minor league baseball then and began following the Royals as former Blue Rocks clawed their way to the big leagues.
3+ years ago I started covering the Royals for Aerys Sports, but since the site has been shut down, I am going out on my own.